Short Summary

North Vietnam has just released film which is claimed to show a United States B-52 bomber being shot down over Hanoi by anti-aircraft missiles on December 19 last year.

Description

North Vietnam has just released film which is claimed to show a United States B-52 bomber being shot down over Hanoi by anti-aircraft missiles on December 19 last year. The film was taken by he motion picture unit of the North Vietnam Defence Forces. The aircraft burst into flames and partially broke up in the air before crashing around Hanoi. Some of the aircraft's crew, who were not identified, were said to have parachuted to safety.

The other film recently released by Hanoi shows the wreckage of a United States B-52 bomber said to have been shot down near Hanoi in December last year. Information form North Vietnam says the wreckage of the aircraft was found in a field on the outskirts of Hanei on December 21. The night before, surface to air missiles had been launched against U.S. bombers attacking the city.

SYNOPSIS: The wreckage of a United States bomber....a B-Fifty two which the North Vietnamese claim they shot down in December last year in the early stages of the massive U.S. raids on Hangi and Haiphong. This official North Vietnamese film was released only during the past few days.

North Vietnamese sources said this wreckage was filmed on December 21, the day after B-Fifty Two raids on Hanoi. It's not known if any airmen survived.

An almost complete fuselage of a B-Fifty Two bomber was found in a field on the outskirts of Hanoi. Wreckatge of the engines, wings and tailplane were Scattered around the immediate area.

Documents from a B-Fifty Two and insignia normally worn by B-Fifty Two crewmen were also filmed by a cameraman assigned to the North Vietnam Defence Forces. The aircraft was said to have been shot down by Sam-Two surface-to-air missiles.

A few nights earlier, on December 19, the motion picture unit of the North Vietnam Defence Forces filmed what was said to be a B-Fifty Two being shot down over Hanoi. Sam-Two missiles were fired, more than one of them hitting their target.

Hanoi said the aircraft disintegrated in the sky but at least some of the crewmen parachuted to safety. They were captured by North Vietnamese militiamen, but no news of their identity or rank was released.